The Story of Us
by Ladyblue82
Summary: After a serious accident, Kurt suffers brain damage and loses part of his memory. Blaine helps him remember what has happened between them. / Memory-loss fics are my crack, so I just had to write one. AU, obviously. Rated T for mature themes  ?
1. Chapter 1

**THE STORY OF US - Chapter 1  
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Summary: After a serious accident, Kurt suffers brain damage and loses part of his memory. Blaine helps him remember what has happened between them.

A.N.: I'm still very new to this fanfiction writing business, which means that a) this is a rip-off of every similar fic I've ever read b) I still have a lot to improve, therefore c) I would really appreciate honest, constructive comments. (go anon if you have to! be as mean as you need to be!) and, also d) updates might not be that fast, though I do have a good chunk of the following chapters already written.

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. _

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><p>Kurt had been in the hospital for three whole days after his brain surgery, and, already, the confinement was beginning to drive him crazy. He knew he should feel grateful for being well and healthy and <em>alive, <em>and he truly did... but it was hard to appreciate his life when he was now spending the better part of his days in bed, with barely anything to do except waiting for his father, or his friends to visit.

In between those visits, Kurt had been trying to fill the gaps in his damaged and fragmented memory. It was not nearly as bad as it could have been, he knew, and he was grateful for that too. But he couldn't help feeling that he was missing so much, and that maybe, just maybe, if he tried hard enough, he could get back these memories. As hard as he tried, however, only small bits and pieces came back to him, and he would give up, frustrated, then try to occupy himself with something else, anything else, just to forget about the state he was in.

Just as Kurt was finishing the latest edition of Vogue, which Carole had brought for him, and mentally regretting not asking her to bring the whole collection he had at home, he heard a soft knock on the door.

Blaine was hovering in the doorway, head slightly tilted and a small, adoring smile on his lips.

"Hey. Can I come in?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, of course."

"I just came by to see how you're holding up," he said as he walked into the room and over to Kurt's side, leaning a little into the metal bedstead.

"I'm alright. Feeling a lot better actually," Kurt answered. "Now I'm just bored," he added with a soft and not entirely convincing laugh.

"Good, that's good," Blaine replied in that serious yet affectionate tone that Kurt could only describes as utterly _Blaine_.

Blaine let his eyes meet Kurt's and just smiled at him for a moment. "I can't stay too long, though," Blaine said suddenly when he caught himself staring for a little too long.

"That's okay," Kurt said, but he couldn't quite help the disappointment in his voice.

"Warblers practice," Blaine added apologetically.

"Anyways, I talked to your Dad," he continued, "and asked if I could go to your room and get some things for you. I have your Ipod, and some books and magazines."

"Oh, Blaine, _I love you, _this is just what I needed!" Kurt exclaimed as his eyes lit up and his face broke into a smile.

Blaine blushed, and looked down, simply extending the Marc Jacobs bag in which he had stuffed everything. Of course, Kurt did not realize how his words affected Blaine, how the other boy couldn't help but remember all the other times they had said those three words to each other, all the moments in which those words had really meant something.

Kurt took the bag and thanked Blaine, giving him a broad smile, but he didn't seem to notice his blush or the look that had passed over his face. He simply took out his Ipod and began scrolling through it, the familiarity of the artists and song names giving him a strangely comforting feeling.

"Hey, look, I've got a 'Blaine' playlist!" Kurt exclaimed after a few minutes. "That's funny."

"Oh really? I... I never knew that." Blaine couldn't help but smile a little. He paused, considering his words, then took a breath and added, "Actually, I have a 'Kurt' playlist too."

"Oh." Kurt couldn't make any sense of what Blaine had just said, but at least attempted to explain the first piece of information. "You must have given me some music... I don't remember," Kurt finished rather pathetically, suddenly becoming aware of how often he had repeated that phrase in the last few days.

"Actually, I think those would be songs that I _sang_ to you mostly, or just songs that would remind you of me."

"Oh." Kurt flushed at the implications, but definitely wasn't surprised.

If he was being honest, he didn't exactly remember having a crush on Blaine. At least, none of the few hazy memories he had of him gave any clear indication of that. Rather, he couldn't remember _not_ liking Blaine in that way; it was something he couldn't even imagine.

"Kurt... there's something I need to tell you," Blaine said after a short silence.

"Yeah?"

"There's a reason we both have playlists with each other's names. I mean, you were right when you said I was your best friend. You were my best friend too. But, mostly... you were my _boyfriend_ Kurt."

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><p><em>A.N.: Tu dun dun dun... To be continued.<em>


	2. Chapter 2

**THE STORY OF US - Chapter 2**

A.N.: I finished editing the second chapter much faster than I expected, thanks to some very productive procrastination from actual homework, so here it is. This is really just a more detailed prologue, but I promise the good stuff is coming up in the next chapter!

Once again, honest / constructive reviews are highly appreciated.

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. _

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><p>"You were right when you said I was your best friend," Blaine had said, and suddenly the memories of three days ago, which already seemed like long-lost ones, came flooding back to Kurt's mind.<p>

... ... ...

_All of Kurt's family, his closest friends, and, of course, Blaine, were gathered around his bed, filling the small hospital room almost to its full capacity. Kurt was finally back from surgery, and as the pale boy began to emerge from his anaesthesia-induced sleep, all were anxiously watching him, breathing a collective sigh of relief, yet still anxious about what was to come._

_Kurt's eyes fluttered open, and a tired smile slowly spread on his lips as he recognized the people in front of him._

"_Dad! Carole!" were the first words he said as he smiled at his parents. _

_Then, noticing the hand that was awkwardly clutching his forearm, and raising his eyes to its owner, he looked at his brother._

"_Finn" he said simply, his smile still growing._

_Kurt's gaze swept across the room, and even though he was too tired to speak to everyone of his friends, the look of affection in his eyes could not be mistaken. Perhaps the doctors had been wrong after all. Perhaps his memory was still, miraculously, intact._

_As he turned his head completely and now looked at the people gathered on the other side of the bed, Blaine's eyes were the first he looked up to._

"_Blaine!" he exclaimed._

"_You remember me?" Blaine asked softly, his throat tight with anxiousness, the doctors' words still ringing in his head._

"_Oh course I remember you. Blaine, you're my best friend!"_

"_Well, my other best friend," Kurt added, as he turned to Mercedes. Just like that, the subject was dropped, and as Kurt revived into his old self, chatting easily with his friends despite his obvious exhaustion, Blaine felt his heart shatter completely. Locking eyes with Mercedes, then with Burt, they somehow understood each other and reached a tacit agreement. Whatever else would happen in the future, Blaine would be the one to decide when and if he would tell Kurt about them._

... ... ...

"But, mostly... you were my _boyfriend_ Kurt." The words echoed in Kurt's ears as his mind drifted back to the present. He hadn't imagined the pained look on Blaine's face then. He hadn't imagined the dampness in his eyes. If anything, he had been far too quick to overlook them, and now he could not understand how he could have been so insensitive. As he looked up and saw that same dejected expression on Blaine's features, he desperately wished he could get out of bed and hold him in his arms for as long as he could.

"I'm sorry," Kurt finally said, apologizing for himself, for the situation, for not being able to hold Blaine in that moment, for not being able to feel his pain, and for somehow forgetting something so important and so personal.

"It's... it's not your fault, Kurt," Blaine said in a trembling voice, taking deep breaths in an obvious effort to stop himself from crying. The last thing he needed right now, Blaine told himself, was to make Kurt feel guilty about this, after everything he had already been through.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you, but..."

"No, you were right to tell me," Kurt interrupted in a soft voice that he meant to be reassuring, holding Blaine's gaze and trying to convey to him everything that his words couldn't.

"I can't believe... I'm sorry," he said again, and Blaine simply shook his head.

Neither of them were sure how this conversation was supposed to continue after this point, and the silence stretching between them quickly became uncomfortable.

"I should go," Blaine said finally, cursing himself for having made things so awkward between him and Kurt, and wondering if even their friendship could still be the same now. "Is there anything else I could get you?"

"No, nothing, just... promise you'll come back tomorrow?"

"Yeah... yeah, of course."

As Blaine left his room, giving him one last sad smile, Kurt sighed and put his Ipod away on the bedside table. He didn't feel like listening to music or doing anything else now. All he wanted to do was go to sleep for a few more hours, and when he would wake up again, in that short moment between sleep and consciousness, relive the desperate, delicious hope that all of this was nothing but a bad dream.


	3. Chapter 3

**THE STORY OF US - Chapter 3****  
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A.N.: I promised the "good stuff" was coming up, and finally, here it is (or at least the beginning of it). I'm really proud of myself for finishing this super long (by my standards, mind you) chapter, so I hope it was worth the wait for you. I also went back and added a few lines in ch. 1 because I realized that initial dialogue was really awkward. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy!

And I should also add that I probably won't be updating for a while, because next week is my last week of classes, which means deadlines, deadlines, exams and more deadlines. Hopefully I'll make it out alive!

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. _

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><p>Kurt woke up the following day to the smell of coffee and breakfast, and opened his eyes to see Carole standing at the head of his bed, gently running her fingers through his hair.<p>

"Good morning, sweetie," she said.

"Mhmmm... morning." Kurt answered as he slowly sat up against his pillows.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm good," he answered, but if he was being honest the painkillers from the night before were starting to wear off, and he was feeling a little dizzy. "Just a little tired"

"Well I brought you coffee."

"So I see," Kurt said, noticing the two cardboard cups sitting on his bedside table next to his breakfast tray.

"Non-fat latte with sugar and cinnamon. Just as you like it," Carole said as she handed him his coffee. "Don't worry, I asked your doctor. He said one cup couldn't hurt."

Kurt sat up a little more and gratefully took the cup from Carole's hand, giving her a tired but sincere smile. "Thanks."

"You're not working today?" he asked after taking a few sips of the hot drink.

"I took the morning off. I thought you must be pretty lonely in here with Burt at work and all your friends in class."

"Well Blaine did say he would come by this afternoon. But I'm glad you're here."

Carole simply smiled and rubbed affectionately at Kurt's shoulder.

"...Blaine's been a really good friend to you, you know?"

Kurt raised his eyebrows slightly, wondering where this conversation was going.

"He was here the whole time when... when we weren't sure you were going to wake up," she said, her voice suddenly much quieter. "Sometimes even when Burt and I had to leave."

"Oh."

"He really cares about you."

"I know," Kurt said, and he did. He had always known Blaine cared about him, from the very first day they met and became friends. But this was entirely different, because this was what _boyfriends_ did for one another. Boyfriends, Kurt's brain kept repeating. Boyfriends. And still the reality of it couldn't sink in.

The conversation quickly returned to lighter topics, and they spent the rest of the morning eating and talking about everything and anything. Eventually, Carole left to go back to work, and Kurt found himself alone again.

He reached for his cell phone in the haphazard pile of objects in his bedside drawer and saw a flash of glimmering blue aluminum where his Ipod lay forgotten between its charger and a pile of magazines. Kurt hadn't dared listen to the 'Blaine' playlist since the other day. He knew it was silly, but somehow even looking at the titles, most of which he didn't recognize, had made him feel like he was prying into something secret and personal. Except he was only prying into his own secrets, which didn't make much sense.

Kurt sighed and just took out his cell phone, checking for any missed calls or texts. Somewhere among the 48 new messages from all the members of New Directions (those could wait, Kurt thought), there was also one from Blaine, which he opened immediately.

_How are you feeling? Not too tired for some company this afternoon, I hope? -Blaine_

Kurt smiled and typed in a quick reply.

_Not at all. Still holding you to your promise. -K._

... ... ...

When Blaine walked into the small hospital room this time, he was still dressed in his Dalton uniform, and Kurt marveled at how different he seemed compared to the boy he had seen yesterday, yet still exactly the same. He remembered their old uniforms, of course, but seeing it again felt both surprising and familiar, like a feeling of déjà-vu.

"Hi," Kurt said, smiling widely.

"Hi yourself," Blaine answered with a playful smile on his lips, and, thankfully, the feeling of awkwardness from yesterday was entirely gone.

They made small talk for a few minutes and caught up on their respective days, and everything about this felt comfortable and reassuring. Kurt didn't really want to ruin the atmosphere, but an idea had entered his mind as soon as Blaine had walked in, and now he simply couldn't get it out.

"So, I thought we could listen to some music, if you want."

"Um, yeah, sure."

Kurt reached over the metal frames of his bed again to open his drawer and took out his Ipod and charger. Blaine plugged the charger in while Kurt scrolled through his playlists, going directly for the one titled 'Blaine.' The first song, "Teenage Dream," did ring a bell, but he couldn't remember any of the lyrics or melody.

He took a deep breath and, after putting the Ipod in its charger and turning on the speakers, simply pressed play, anxiously waiting to see Blaine's reaction.

"Oh! I know this song!" Kurt exclaimed as the first notes began to play, momentarily forgetting his nervousness.

"Really?" Blaine's eyes lit up and, for a moment, his mind was overwhelmed with the illusion that the old Kurt was back, that he was never pushed down those stairs, that he wasn't lying in a hospital bed right now, that none of this ever happened.

"Yeah, I remember listening to it on repeat for hours." He paused a little and pursed his lips. "I have no idea why though, I never was such a big fan of Katy Perry."

As Kurt's face contracted into a thoughtful frown, Blaine's fell entirely. Of course. Of course Kurt didn't remember the first time they met. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up so easily. God, he was so naive sometimes, he thought to himself.

They listened to the song in silence for a short while before Kurt spoke again, pulling Blaine from his thoughts.

"This would totally fit your voice."

"Huh?"

"I just... I could really see you singing this with the Warblers."

"Um...That's because we already did, Kurt."

"Oh. Ok."

"You... you don't remember?" Blaine asked, unable to contain the sadness and dejection in his voice.

"...not really," Kurt answered tentatively, clearly sensing that this was not the answer Blaine was hoping for.

"Something happened then, right?" he amended.

"Yeah." Blaine answered simply, clearly lost in his memories, and not daring to look at Kurt, for fear of bursting into tears at any moment. Kurt. His boyfriend Kurt. Kurt who was at the core of all the moments that were coming back to him now, and who could not remember any of them.

"Is that... is that when we got together?"

"No, actually, that was the first time we met." Blaine answered quietly.

"Oh."

"..."

"Could you," Kurt paused, not knowing if what he wanted to ask would be too much for Blaine. "Could you tell me what happened? I really wish it would come back to me, Blaine, but if it never does, I... I still would want to know."

"Um... yeah. Yeah, ok."

Kurt scooted over to the side of his hospital bed, silently asking for Blaine to join him. Blaine got the hint, and despite the lingering shyness he still felt towards Kurt, he was rather tired and he couldn't refuse swapping the uncomfortable visitors' chair he was all too well acquainted with for a place on the bed.

Besides, he missed being closed to Kurt. And in that moment, as he sat on the bed and rested his back against the cold metal frame of the headboard, all he could think of was the proximity between the two of them. Not kissing, or even touching, but just feeling Kurt next to him, shoulder barely brushing against his, body heat seeping through the layers of clothing between them. This was something he had taken for granted so many times before, but was now incredibly grateful for.

Blaine took a deep breath and began to tell the story that Kurt had asked for, their story, the one that was connected to so many songs, so many touches and glances, the story that his whole life had revolved around until now.

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><p><em>A.N.: A note about gadgets - My Ipod is blue, therefore Kurt Hummel's Ipod is also blue. Because that's how I roll. Also, for the purpose of this fic I ignored the fact that Canon!Kurt has an Iphone, because his phone and mp3 player needed to be two separate things. This whole chapter just had way more technology in it than I expected, and I actually had to go out and do some "research" to know what I was talking about (thank you to all the lovely tumblr people for your help!) Also, I still haven't figured out how to write about Ipods and chargers in a remotely poetic or stylistically satisfying way. If you have any sage advice, let me know!<em>


	4. Chapter 4

A.N.: So I realized that the "good stuff" I had promised before only really extended to a brushing of their shoulders so far, but what can I say, I guess I'm a sucker for the Victorian romance thing. That being said, I can safely say that more good stuff, even better stuff, is happening in this chapter!

This is a rather short update, but I wanted to post it as soon as possible so as not to keep my readers (all five of you!) waiting any longer. And I'd just like to say thank you to said readers for bearing with me those past two weeks, and also for all your lovely reviews, which never fail to make me smile.

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. _

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><p>Blaine took a deep breath and began to tell the story of their first meeting. For the huge place that single day held in his heart, that story was a rather short one.<p>

He glossed over some details, because, well, there was just no good reason to tell his boyfriend-but-currently-strictly-best-friend that he couldn't keep his hands off him the first day they met and had initiated more physical contact than was entirely appropriate for a complete stranger. Besides, he would later have to explain how he had abruptly switched from flirty-friend mode to gay-mentor mode, how he stubbornly refused to let their relationship progress beyond friendship and even convinced himself he was in love with someone else before finally making a move.

No, things were complicated enough as they were, Blaine thought. All Kurt needed to know were the key events of the story.

"...and then we just talked some more, and I gave you my phone number and said to, you know, call me if something happened or you needed to tell someone," he said finally.

"Which is why I called you after the Karosky kiss, I suppose," Kurt said softly.

"Oh, you remember that part."

"Apparently I do," Kurt said, an unmistakable touch of bitterness in his voice.

Kurt was silent for a second, and the frown on his features simply broke Blaine's heart.

"So you also remember our lunch that day?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood and veer Kurt off whatever dark train of thought he had gone down.

"Oh, I certainly do," Kurt said, a smile immediately returning to his face as he turned slightly towards Blaine. "And dinner on the next day, and the one after that. Mercedes was getting quite jealous of how much time I was spending with you and how much I was, um... talking about you."

"Oh… Really?" Blaine asked, a shy smile tugging at his lips.

"...yeah." Kurt scrunched his nose in the cutest way, slightly nervous about his confession, but still smiling in spite of it.

"Listen, Blaine," he took a deep breath and forced the following words to come out of his mouth, mentally reminding himself that he had nothing to be afraid of, and that there was no way Blaine would mock him or reject him.

"I may not remember everything," he said, "but what I do know is that I've– I've always liked you. I mean, not as in– not just liking you, as a friend, although you were a great friend, but really _liking_ you, like, well..." he let out a frustrated little sigh, but Blaine only smiled wider.

"You know what I mean," he said, finally daring to look up at Blaine.

"Kurt…" Blaine couldn't finish his sentence, but the pure fondness and the blissful, uncontainable hope contained in that single word, in that single name, was enough to reassure Kurt instantly.

Blaine looked down for a moment, only long enough to take the other boy's left hand between both of his. His eyes immediately found Kurt's again, and he smiled.

"Kurt, I know that this is – that _I_ am the last of your worries right now," he said, and his smile dropped a little, though he found it impossible to suppress it entirely, "but you should know that, if you ever want to give us another shot, I – I'll be here. I'll be waiting."

"Blaine, I…" Kurt's voice sounded hushed and small, even to his own ears, as he realized that he should probably stop staring at Blaine and give him some sort of an answer. "Yeah. I'd like that."

Kurt's heart was racing at what felt like a million beats per minute. All he could see were Blaine's hazel-green eyes shining in the soft light of the afternoon, more beautiful than he could ever remember seeing them.

Kurt could feel himself leaning towards those eyes, as if pulled by an inexorable force, a reckless confidence that he didn't really feel. They got closer, closer, until Blaine's eyelids shut at the same time as his own, and he pressed the lightest of touches to the lips that were now beneath his.

He felt Blaine return the kiss and touch the side of his cheek before pulling away. His slightly shocked expression merged into a breathless laugh, and Kurt felt an overwhelming feeling of déjà-vu. After all, he thought with a small pang of sadness that felt out of place in the moment, they must have done this a hundred times before, but this hazy feeling of familiarity was all that his memory had retained.

"I– I didn't expect you to do that." Blaine said after a few moments, snapping Kurt out of his thoughts. "But I'm glad you did."

At those words, Kurt simply leant forward again and kissed Blaine once more, hoping that his actions could express all the things that he couldn't put into words – the relief of having his feelings returned, the feeling of overwhelming, disbelieving happiness which made every other source of pain seem insignificant, and the promise of what was yet to come, of what they had yet to learn and rediscover together.


	5. Chapter 5

A.N.: I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update since last time (and I'm on vacation too, so now I really have no good excuses), but on the bright side of things, Chapter 6 is 95% written too, so that should also be up in the next few days. But enough about me! I'm sure you'd rather know what Kurt and Blaine are up to, so without further ado, chapter 5, ladies and gentlemen.

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story._

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><p>Kurt was released from the hospital two days later, but was still ordered by his doctor to stay at home and rest for a few more weeks. Blaine came to see him as often as he could, driving from Westerville once or twice during the weekdays and spending his entire weekends with the Hudson-Hummels.<p>

Burt and Carole had both come to appreciate the boy immensely since Kurt's accident, and even Finn made considerable efforts to act friendly towards him. Blaine liked Kurt's family every bit as much as they liked him, and though Burt still intimidated him a little, and Finn baffled him with his well-meaning but awkward attempts at socializing, he couldn't help but feel an immense affection for them, especially in contrast to his own family.

But no matter how much Blaine liked Burt, Finn and Carole, he spent the vast majority of his time in Kurt's room, just the two of them together.

Since the first day they had listened to Teenage Dream, they had made it a habit to listen to one or two songs on the 'Blaine' and 'Kurt' playlists every time they saw each other. Kurt didn't recognize most of the recent songs, but he would insist on listening to them over and over again until they were as familiar to him as they were to Blaine.

Blaine would also spend hours telling him the stories behind every track, gesturing wildly and making faces and singing along, making Kurt laugh and sometimes cut him off mid-sentence with a kiss, followed by a fond remark about how ridiculous he was.

The songs on both playlists seemed to be arranged in a more or less chronological order, so that so that as they listened to them, Blaine had also been able to tell Kurt about their history together almost exactly as it had happened.

Kurt would quite often remember a few disconnected details, but the hope that he would recover his memories entirely was growing fainter every day. Neither of them spoke about it, but both boys were fighting to keep their spirits high despite the weight of that realization sinking in. After all, they were somehow still together after everything that had happened, and that was all that mattered.

They tried to enjoy every second they had together, and while they spent a lot of time talking about everything that was missing from Kurt's memory, they would also spend entire days lazily rolling around in bed, just kissing and chatting about trivial things.

Today was one those days. Both boys were lying side by side on Kurt's bed, hands wrapped around each other's necks and shoulders and lips glued together.

"Hmmm… haven't lost your motor skills" Blaine mumbled against Kurt's mouth, and for a few seconds his brain scrambled to make sense of the words he was hearing. Why was Blaine talking about motors and skills when they were in the middle of making out?

"I… what?" he asked, reluctantly tearing his lips away from Blaine's.

"You're still really good at this," Blaine replied, laughing a little at Kurt's confused expression. "Clearly your muscle memory is one memory that's still intact."

"You're such a dork," Kurt said, rolling his eyes and giving his boyfriend a light shove.

"And now you've reminded me of my amnesia again," Kurt added in a teasing tone, though Blaine knew he wasn't entirely joking. "Great. You totally killed the mood."

"No, I didn't," Blaine protested, but Kurt simply gave him one last peck on the lips and swiftly got off of the bed.

"Let's listen to more music."

He opened his laptop and opened the 'Blaine' playlist, as usual, playing _Blackbird_, as his rendition of it after Pavarotti's death was exactly where Blaine had left off the last time they had been talking about all of this.

Kurt sat down next to Blaine on his bed, their backs against the headboard, and Blaine immediately leaned his head on his shoulder. Unusually, they listened to the song in silence, feeling strangely content just being in each other's presence. When the song ended, _Candles_ began to play, and from the very first notes, Kurt sat up a little and turned to face Blaine, a strange look in his eyes – a mix of concentration, and, was it... hopefulness?

"I sang this" he said. "With you."

Blaine just nodded, too stunned to say anything else.

"At Regionals," Kurt added, without a single hesitation.

"Yes."

"And I remember I was so nervous... because... because we hadn't practiced the song? Is that it?"

"Um... we did. We did practice, but not – not as much as we should have, maybe." By this time, Blaine's voice and his whole body were trembling. Hearing Kurt say all of this... it was like relieving those moments for the first time, it was almost like falling in love all over again.

"Oh... _Oh!_ Practicing. Yeah, I remember."

"You... you remember?" Blaine asked cautiously, not willing to let himself hope for too much and be disappointed.

"Well, not everything. I just remember sitting at the piano with... um... next to you, and practicing this song."

The image was now clear in Blaine's mind as well. 'Next to you' had been a vast understatement, but judging by the way Kurt had faltered on those words, he must have been aware of that. Blaine had been sitting at the piano in the Dalton common room with Kurt on his lap, one hand playing the melody to which they were singing, and the other one wrapped around the taller boy's waist. They had spent the whole afternoon like that, pausing every few minutes to exchange shy kisses and revel in the fact that they were finally _boyfriends_.

"Boyfriends." Kurt said, as if reading Blaine's thoughts. "That's when we became boyfriends."

Blaine beamed at him, and couldn't bring himself to say anything more coherent than "Yeah. That was... then. Yes."

"That was nice." A smile slowly spread around Kurt's lips too, but it was soon replaced with a frown.

"I wish I could remember more. I wish I could remember the rest."

"Hey, don't worry about it, Kurt," Blaine said in an earnest and reassuring voice, gently reaching out to tilt Kurt's head and get him to meet his eyes. "Five minutes ago, I didn't even think you'd remember this much. This is… this is already amazing, Kurt."

Kurt gave him a sad smile, but that was still better than a frown, Blaine thought.

"And if this came back to you, maybe the other stuff will too," Blaine added, feeling himself getting a little excited. "Maybe you just need… I don't know, some kind of trigger to remind you?"

"Like what?"

"I have an idea. Come with me to Dalton tomorrow."

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><p><em>A.N.: So for some reason, "Lovin's for Fools" by Bon Iver and Anais Mitchell has become my go-to song when writing this story (and incidentally, the lyrics fit quite well) but it just keeps making me want to write sad and depressing stuff. Case in point: this chapter was supposed to be one of the lightest ones, but then I listened to this song on loop and before I knew it had all those depressing undertones mixing in with the making out and the lala-roses-and-butterflies that it was supposed to be. So I'm sorry about that, and I'll try to find a new go-to song!<em>


	6. Chapter 6

A.N.: This update comes to you a little later than promised, but that's because I had to rewrite large chucks of it to make it decent. Besides, it's the longest and fluffiest chapter to date, so I hope that makes up for the wait! Enjoy. :)

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story._

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><p>The afternoon of the following day, Kurt asked his father to give him a lift to Dalton, seeing as his still fragile physical condition, not to mention his impaired memory were making it dangerous for him to drive. Burt readily agreed, though privately he was skeptical about Blaine's plan.<p>

When he had stayed over for dinner the evening before, Blaine had explained that he had the afternoon off the following day and planned to use his free time to show Kurt around Dalton. Of course, he also wanted to use that opportunity to continue telling the story of Kurt's lost memories, and he hoped that the setting alone might do something to help him remember more. Though he didn't explain this to Kurt's parents, it wasn't hard for them to guess at the secret hope behind all of this.

Burt wasn't entirely convinced; he doubted that it would do Kurt much good to be reminded of the part of his life that he had forgotten the most about, and to mourn the loss of his memories once again.

He was also a little nervous about Kurt leaving the house for the first time since his release from the hospital. But Kurt seemed to have gained strength and improved significantly in the few weeks he had spent at home, and, besides, he probably needed a day of careless fun with Blaine more than anything after all he had been through. So Burt indulged him and hoped nothing bad would happen.

… … …

Kurt jumped out of his seat a little more quickly than he should have and braced himself against the side of the car when dizziness hit him, earning a slightly reproachful "easy there, kid" from Burt.

"I'm fine."

"You just be careful, alright? And tell Blaine he best be watching after you today."

"When has he ever not, Dad?"

"You're right," Burt said with a sigh. He couldn't deny that. "But now don't go trippin' over anything and hurting yourself again."

"I won't, Dad."

"Ok, off you go then. I love you, son."

"I love you too," Kurt replied automatically, but meaning the words no less than every other time he had said them.

Just as he closed the car door and Burt was gearing out of park, Blaine walked around the corner of the main building. He waved at Burt as he walked towards them, but thankfully, by the time he reached Kurt, the car was already out of sight and he kissed his boyfriend without any fear or awkwardness.

"I missed you," Blaine said as he pulled away, giving Kurt a small, intimate smile which the other boy had rather selfishly come to think of as _his_ smile, entirely different from the dazzling one Blaine gave to everyone else.

"What, since yesterday?" Kurt teased, trying hard not to smile himself,but entirely failing to deliver a convincing deadpan.

"_Yes_, since yesterday. Don't you dare mock me, Kurt Hummel, I'm allowed to miss my boyfriend!" Blaine said, now fully laughing.

Boyfriend, Kurt's mind echoed, following its annoying habit. Boyfriend. For the first time, that sounded right. Normal. Like there was nothing more natural in the world. Blaine was his boyfriend, and he was his.

"Whatever," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

"You missed me too," Blaine cooed in reply.

"Fine, all right, I missed you too. Now let's go."

… … …

Predictably, the first place Blaine took Kurt was the grand spiral staircase on which they had first met. As Blaine had hoped, no other students were there in the middle of the afternoon, leaving the two of them to wander around freely.

Blaine led Kurt up the first three steps, then gently tugged on his shoulders to turn him around. Kurt complied without a word but shot Blaine a quizzical look.

"So. Does this ring a bell?"

"Um… it's just a staircase, Blaine. Admittedly the architecture is rather impressive," Kurt added, pausing to look up at the grandiose glass ceiling of the room, "but no. Doesn't ring a bell."

Realistically, Blaine hadn't really expected Kurt to remember it, but he couldn't help the spontaneous feeling of disappointment, a vivid and painful reminder of the situation they were in. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath and did his best to push those thoughts away from his mind.

"Well," he continued in his usual cheery voice, "this is no ordinary staircase, Kurt. _This_ is where we first met."

"Oh. Yeah, actually you did mention that," Kurt remembered from their previous conversations.

"Ok. Stay there," Blaine said excitedly, before climbing the steps two by two to the top landing.

Kurt looked up at him with an intrigued smile, and saw the other boy ever so slightly begin to go down again as he started talking.

"You'd come here to spy on us before Sectionals –"

"I know. You told me."

"–and you were so cute in your spy outfit and sunglasses." Kurt laughed at that.

"Anyways," Blaine continued, "you stopped on that step just as I was coming down, and you called after me." By that point, he had reached Kurt and finally skipped down the remaining steps before spinning around to face him with a playful twirling movement.

"Everyone was running around and you asked what was going on, so I told you the Warblers were performing and…" Blaine looked at Kurt with a sheepish smile, "I may or may not have compared myself to a rock star to try to impress you."

"Did you, now?" Kurt teased.

"Well I said the _Warblers_ were rock stars, but anyways, that's not even the most embarrassing part."

Kurt raised an inquisitive eyebrow, realizing then that Blaine had held out on him the first time he had told this story, skipping over the most interesting details.

"I, um, told you I knew a shortcut to the senior commons, and…" Blaine started, but cut himself off with a nervous laugh and briefly ran his hand over his face, as he did in those rare moments when he felt shy.

"How about I just show you?"

"Alright…" Kurt drawled, intrigued.

"_Come on, I know a shortcut_," Blaine said, quoting himself in an exaggerated, playful voice, and then took Kurt's hand in his as he had done that day, and leading him to the same marble corridor, skipping more than running to allow Kurt to keep up.

He stopped in front of the wooden double doors of the senior commons, turning to face Kurt and leaning against them.

"And here we are."

"So let me get this straight," Kurt said. "The first time we met, you introduced yourself as a rock star and then… took my hand and skipped with me through the school in front of everyone?"

"Well no one was really around in this corridor, and we were more running than skipping," he replied.

"Though I can't be sure…" Blaine mused, "everything happened in slow-motion in my head," he added by way of explanation, with a completely serious expression that made Kurt laugh out loud, his bright laughter echoing in the large room.

"You're not serious, Blaine."

"No, I swear, it really did. It was like in the movies, I could practically hear the piano music in the background."

"Right."

"You're laughing at me!" Blaine said, putting on a mock pout.

"No, I'm not honey," Kurt replied, leaning in to give him a peck on the cheek. "Let's just say I'm laughing _with_ you."

"It's ok, I get it. No more slow-motion running holding your hand then," Blaine said. "Not even if I have to show you another shortcut."

"So you'd really gone through all that trouble just to show me a shortcut?" Kurt asked.

"Well actually I have a confession."

"Do tell."

"You're not going to laugh at me again, are you?"

"I'll _try _not to," Kurt said with a smirk.

Blaine smiled and shook his head but continued anyway. "Ok, well, it wasn't really a shortcut… it was a detour."

"What?" Kurt asked after a short surprised laughter.

"I just wanted to hold your hand and be alone with you for a while, ok?"

Kurt had started chuckling softly again, though he tried to hide his laughter in his hands.

"You're laughing at me again! Ok, that's it, I'm not going to tell you anything more about that day," Blaine said, though he knew this was a useless threat; he had already told Kurt about the Teenage Dream performance in great detail.

He started walking away, but was caught up by Kurt's arms looping tightly around his waist. He didn't even attempt to keep up the pretense of being angry then, but rather turned his head sideways and smiled brightly before leaning in for a kiss.

"It's okay," Kurt said, drawing back only a few centimeters from Blaine's lips. "I'd rather be in the present right now." And as they kissed again, everything else became unimportant.

* * *

><p><em>A.N.: The visit to Dalton and the rest of this day continues in the next chapter.<em>


	7. Chapter 7

A.N.: First of all I'd like to thank the lovely Kennedy Brooks for writing a review telling me to keep writing and basically giving me the necessary kick in the butt to do so (no seriously, thank you!). I never wanted to abandon the story, but to be honest I've been having a pretty bad case of writer's block and I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with the plot, hence the incredibly long wait. So to Kennedy Brooks and everyone else who might still be reading, thank you for sticking around for so long, and I promise to do my best to keep updating!

This will be a slightly shorter chapter, but I wanted to post it as soon as possible to let you know that I'm still alive (and I didn't want to give you all false hope by posting only an author's note without an actual update). I hope you'll still like it.

P.S. (Warning: shameless self-promotion ahead) I should mention that while I was stuck with this story, I began working on another fic which I hope to finish and post very soon, so stay tuned for that.

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story._

* * *

><p>They continued to wonder idly around the school corridors, holding hands and reveling in each other's company, but keeping the relative silence which Dalton's imposing architecture seemed to command. The next place Blaine took Kurt was the second-floor study room. They quietly slipped through the doors so as not to disturb the two or three students who were already there, who only spared them a few fleeting glances before returning to the textbooks they were engrossed in. Blaine, still holding Kurt's hand, led them to sit on the small piano bench in the corner of the room.<p>

Blaine knew this as the place where he and Kurt had spent so many late nights studying and where, most memorably, the two of them had once sung _Baby It's Cold Outside_. The memory of the private performance inevitably tugged at his heart and pulled at his lips, forming them into an undecided expression, halfway between a smile and a frown.

Blaine had lost almost all hope of having Kurt remember anything more that day after the staircase incident, but while he was lost in his own thoughts, he missed the almost instant effect that the room had had on Kurt. A faint but persistent light now flickered in his eyes as he looked around, a new sort of curiosity that hadn't been there a few moments before.

"I sort of recognize this," he turned to whisper in Blaine's ear.

"What? Really?" Blaine whispered back, turning too and meeting Kurt's eyes.

"In a very distant sort of way, I think… yes," Kurt answered, eyes still darting around to every corner of the room, trying to hold on to the feeling of _déjà-vu_ and fix it on something real and material.

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked.

"It's just… a feeling, more than anything else," Kurt explained, frustrated at himself for not being able to tell what exactly made him remember this place.

"The fireplace," he said after a short pause, turning his whole body to look at the object in question, gazing at it with an intense expression, as if it held all the answers that were eluding him in that moment. "There was definitely a fireplace, with a real fire in it."

"Well, yes, they… they do light fires here in the winter," Blaine said, stumbling on his words and mentally berating himself for getting excited so easily.

"Winter…" Kurt echoed, whispering even more softly than before. He turned around to face Blaine again, but seemed completely lost in his own thoughts, the same look of deep concentration still present on his features.

"This might sound crazy," he said, suddenly looking up to meet Blaine's eyes, "but there's this feeling I always get in the wintertime, it's… it's not like anything else. You don't feel it the rest of the year, it's just… when you're smelling the cold outside, or seeing the lights on the houses at night, or…or when you're hearing your favourite Christmas carol," he said, growing more earnest and passionate as he spoke. "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Yeah," Blaine said breathlessly, "actually, I do."

"Well this is what this place reminds me of," Kurt added softly, a sort of wonder and surprise in his voice.

Blaine felt his heartbeat speed up, but kept quiet and simply waited for him to continue.

"I think I'm starting to remember _something_, but it's.. they're just small little details," Kurt said, shaking his head dejectedly, but continuing nonetheless.

"The fireplace, and the fire. Tacky fake evergreen on the mantelpiece," he added with the slightest of laughs, "Studying until really late…" he trailed off for a few moments, hesitating. "And you. Um.. your laughter," he added shyly, making Blaine smile and his heart melt a little in his chest.

"I mean, I remember us laughing together," he added, flustered and whispering quickly now, words tumbling one after another, hands waving around in a stream of restless gestures. "I have no idea when that was or why we were laughing, or if I'm just making all of this up in my head or just dreamt about it or something…"

"Kurt," Blaine interrupted, the loving grin on his face threatening to burst into a full smile at any moment. Kurt paused mid-sentence to look up at him, suddenly forgetting what he was saying as he stared into Blaine's eyes.

"I think we should go back outside," Blaine said. "We're probably disturbing those poor guys over there."

"I… yeah, sure," Kurt simply said, and got off the bench, accepting Blaine's hand when he reached out for him.

When they had closed the heavy wooden doors behind them and were back in the corridor, Kurt turned to Blaine with a curious look.

"Was there something you wanted to s—hmmmphh"

Before he knew it, Blaine's lips were on his, his hands holding tightly onto his back, and soon enough his tongue making its way into his mouth.

"What was that for?" Kurt asked, smiling madly and out of breath, when they had pulled back a few seconds later.

Blaine smiled back and shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I just realized that… it doesn't matter what you remember and what you don't," he began, trying to find the right words to express something he didn't fully understand himself.

"As long as you know we're _us_, then... that's all that matters, Kurt," he said, stroking his boyfriend's cheek in a gesture that was so loving and intimate and maybe a little overwhelming.

"Yeah," Kurt said softly, finding that he hadn't recovered from the kiss yet and was somehow still out of breath. "Yeah. Maybe you're right."

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><p><em>A.N.: As always, reviews = warm fuzzy feelings in my chest, and also = motivation = less procrastination on my part = more guilt when I don't update = hopefully more updates. I promise I do read every single one of them even when I don't reply.<em>


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